Shoelace having custom metal t-locking fastener

ABSTRACT

Some embodiments of the present disclosure include a shoelace device for securing a shoe onto a user, the device including a lace having a first end and a second end, a first t-locking fastener attached to the first end, and a second t-locking fastener attached to the second end. The lace may be made of an elastic material. Each t-locking fastener may be capable of pivoting about its respective end from a first position to a second position, wherein the second position is substantially perpendicular to a plane of a length of the lace.

BACKGROUND

The embodiments herein relate generally to footwear, and moreparticularly, to a shoelace having a metal t-locking fastener.

Many types of shoes are secured to feet using shoelaces. Tying ashoelace can be a difficult task for many groups of people, includingchildren, disabled people, the elderly, and many others. Additionally,tying shoelaces can be time consuming, especially if a person is lackingthe dexterity required for tying shoelaces. A conventional shoelace is asingle piece of material, such as a cord, having a first end and asecond end, wherein the shoelace is threaded through openings on the topof the shoe and that the two ends are tied together to secure the shoe.Conventional shoelaces can also be unsightly to many people, as the endof the shoelaces hang down from the shoe. Other options are possible forsecuring shoes to a person's feet, but these options lack the look oftypical shoelaces. For example, many shoes have a hook and loop fastenerstrap, such as a Velcro strap, to secure the shoe to the foot.Alternatively, some shoes have a plurality elastic straps that attach afirst hole on the top of the shoe to a second hole on the top of theshoe, but the plurality of straps are not connected. Rather, each strapconnects a pair of shoelace holes, instead of all of the shoelace holesbeing connected by a single lace.

Therefore, what is needed is a shoelace that has the appearance of aconventional shoelace, but is not required to be tied in order to securethe shoe to a foot.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the present disclosure include a shoelace device forsecuring a shoe onto a user, the device including a lace having a firstend and a second end, a first t-locking fastener attached to the firstend, and a second t-locking fastener attached to the second end. Thelace may be made of an elastic material. Each t-locking fastener may becapable of pivoting about its respective end from a first position to asecond position, wherein the second position is substantiallyperpendicular to the lace and creates a t-locking functionality.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The detailed description of some embodiments of the invention is madebelow with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein like numeralsrepresent corresponding parts of the figures.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present inventionshown in use.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present inventionshown in use.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective detail view of one embodiment of the presentinvention shown in use pre-insertion into a shoelace hole on a shoe.

FIG. 5 is a perspective detail view of one embodiment of the presentinvention shown in use post-insertion in a shoelace hole on a shoe.

FIG. 6 is a perspective detail view of one embodiment of the presentinvention shown in use pose-securement.

FIG. 7 is a detail section view of one embodiment of the presentinvention along line 7-7 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is a detail section view of one embodiment of the presentinvention along line 8-8 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 9 is a detail section view of one embodiment of the presentinvention along line 9-9 in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description of the invention, numerousdetails, examples, and embodiments of the invention are described.However, it will be clear and apparent to one skilled in the art thatthe invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth and that theinvention can be adapted for any of several applications.

The device of the present disclosure may be used to secure a shoe to afoot and may comprise the following elements. This list of possibleconstituent elements is intended to be exemplary only, and it is notintended that this list be used to limit the system of the presentapplication to just these elements. Persons having ordinary skill in theart relevant to the present disclosure may understand there to beequivalent elements that may be substituted within the presentdisclosure without changing the essential function or operation of thedevice.

1. Elastic Lace

2. T-locking fastener

The various elements of the shoelace device for securing a shoe on auser of the present disclosure may be related in the following exemplaryfashion. It is not intended to limit the scope or nature of therelationships between the various elements and the following examplesare presented as illustrative examples only.

By way of example, and referring to FIGS. 1-7, some embodiments of theshoelace device of the present disclosure comprise a lace 10 having afirst end and a second end, wherein each of the first and the secondends has a t-locking fastener 12 attached thereto. As shown in FIGS. 1,2, and 4-9, the t-locking fastener 12 may be configured to engage with ashoelace hole 16 on a shoe 14. For example, as shown in FIGS. 3-9, thet-locking fastener 12 may be a solid material, such as plastic or metal,that is attached each end of the lace 10. The t-locking fastener 12 maybe capable of pivoting about the end of the lace 10 from a firstposition, wherein the lace 10 is substantially aligned with the plane ofthe t-locking fastener 12, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 7, and 8, to a secondposition, wherein end of the lace 10 is substantially perpendicular tothe plane of the t-locking fastener 12 and creates the locked-infunction of the device to the shoe, as shown in FIGS. 2, 6, and 9.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, when the t-locking fastener 12 is in thefirst position, the t-locking fastener 12 may be inserted through ashoelace hole 16 in a shoe 14. The t-locking fastener 12 may then beadjusted to its second position to secure the shoelace device in place,the t-locking fastener 12 preventing the shoelace device from slippingback through the shoelace hole 14 because of the resistance that theelastic lace 10 is creating against the secured fasteners 12. As shownin FIG. 9, the t-locking fastener 12 may secure the shoelace device inplace by acting like a T-locking configuration with respect to theshoelace hole 14. Thus, the length of the t-locking fastener 12 may begreater than the diameter of a shoelace hole 14, such that the t-lockingfastener 12 is prevented from slipping through the shoelace hole 14 whenthe t-locking fastener is in its second position.

In embodiments, the t-locking fastener 12 may be positioned into thesecond position by just letting go of the lace 10 once the t-lockingfastener 12 is inserted through the shoelace hole 14 or by pulling onthe lace 10 after the t-locking fastener 12 is inserted through theshoelace hole 14. Thus, in embodiments, a user may lace up their shoesusing the shoelace device similarly to a conventional shoelace, butwithout having the need to tie the ends of the shoelace together.

The t-locking fastener 12 may have a first portion that clamps aroundthe diameter of the lace 10, securing the lace 10 to the t-lockingfastener 12, and a second portion that is configured to partiallysurround the lace 10 when the t-locking fastener 12 is in its firstposition. The first portion of the t-locking fastener 12 may curveinward toward an interior of the t-locking fastener to clamp onto theend of the lace 10, securing the lace to the t-locking fastener. Forexample, in some embodiments, the first portion of the t-lockingfastener 12 may curve inward about 20°. When the t-locking fastener 12is moved into the second position, the second portion no longerpartially surrounds the lace 10, and the t-locking fastener 12 becomesperpendicular to the length of the lace 10.

The lace may be made of any suitable material and, in embodiments, ismade of a material having an elastic property. When the lace has anelastic property, the lace is pulled taut from shoelace hole to shoelacehole, until lace is secured through the last pair of shoelace holes bythe t-locking fastener. The elasticity of the lace will allow the shoeto be snugly secured to a foot. If the lace is not made of an elasticmaterial, the lace may be too loose and the shoe may not be sufficientlysecured onto the foot. In other words, the lace may have a length and anelasticity sufficient to lace up a shoe without there being any slack inthe lace when the shoe is laced up. The lace may have any lengthnecessary to secure a shoe to a foot, and the length of the lace mayvary depending on the size, brand, or type of footwear. In someembodiments, the lace may be from about 10 to about 40 inches long.

The shoelace device of the present disclosure may be used to lace up anytype of footwear that requires laces, such as sneakers, dress shoes,boots, and so on. The width of the shoelace device may vary and, inembodiments, is smaller than a diameter of a shoelace hole. A user mayuse the shoelace device by inserting the lace at the two holes at thebase of the shoe, as with a conventional shoe lace, and proceeding tolace the remaining holes, securing the lace into the last two holesusing the t-locking fasteners. As a result, the shoe may be secured to auser's foot comfortably without tying of laces being required, therebeing zero slack in the lace because of the elasticity of the lace.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate that numerous designconfigurations may be possible to enjoy the functional benefits of theinventive systems. Thus, given the wide variety of configurations andarrangements of embodiments of the present invention the scope of theinvention is reflected by the breadth of the claims below rather thannarrowed by the embodiments described above.

What is claimed is:
 1. A shoelace device for securing a shoe onto a userwithout requiring the user to tie a shoelace, the device comprising: alace made of an elastic material, the lace having a first end and asecond end; a first t-locking fastener attached to the first end; and asecond t-locking fastener attached to the second end, wherein: eacht-locking fastener is capable of pivoting about its respective end froma first position to a second position, wherein the second position issubstantially perpendicular to a plane of a length of the lace.
 2. Theshoelace device of claim 1, wherein each of the t-locking fastenerscomprises a first portion that is curved inward toward an interior ofthe t-locking fastener, resulting in a clamp that secures the lace tothe t-locking fastener.
 3. The shoelace device of claim 2, wherein eachof the t-locking fasteners is curved inward at an angle of about 20°. 4.The shoelace device of claim 1, wherein the first position of each ofthe t-locking fasteners is substantially parallel to the plane of thelength of the lace.
 5. The shoelace device of claim 1, wherein each ofthe t-locking fasteners is configured to engage with a shoelace hole onthe shoe to secure the shoelace device in place using a T-lockingconfiguration with the t-locking fastener positioned in the secondposition.
 6. The shoelace device of claim 1, wherein a length of each ofthe t-locking fasteners is greater than a diameter of a shoelace hole.7. The shoelace device of claim 1, wherein the t-locking fastener ismade of metal.
 8. The shoelace device of claim 1, wherein the lace haslength and an elasticity sufficient to prevent the lace from having anyslack when the shoelace device is in use.
 9. A shoelace device forsecuring footwear to a foot, the device comprising: a lace made of anelastic material, the lace having a first end and a second end; a firstt-locking fastener attached to the first end; and a second t-lockingfastener attached to the second end, wherein: each of the t-lockingfasteners pivots about its respective end of the lace from a firstposition to a second position, wherein the second position issubstantially perpendicular to a plane of a length of the lace; each ofthe t-locking fasteners is configured to engage with a shoelace hole onthe footwear to secure the shoelace device in place using a T-lockingconfiguration with the t-locking fastener positioned in the secondposition; and the lace has length and an elasticity sufficient toprevent the lace from having any slack when the shoelace device is inuse.
 10. The shoelace device of claim 9, wherein each of the t-lockingfasteners has a length greater than a diameter of the shoelace hole.